This invention relates to armrests for chairs, armchairs or similar of the type comprising a supporting column and an armrest body connected to the upper extremity of the supporting column.
Particularly in the case of office chairs, a known type presents a mobile armrest in a transverse horizontal direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the armrest, so to adapt the position of the armrest to the specific requirements of the users and also to the different activities, which the user can carry out. For example, working at the keyboard of a typewriter or computer requires a respectively relative close position of the two armrests of the chair for the purpose of suitably supporting the wrists of the user during work. Conversely, a relaxing position, with the back resting on the backrest of the chair, preferably requires a respectively more distanced positioned of the two armrests. The solutions proposed to date do not always satisfy said needs adequately and, moreover, do not account for the additional need for the user to have a suitable support of the forearms in all the possible positions they can assume.
The purpose of this invention is to attain an armrest, which is capable, on one hand, to efficiently solves all said problems, and which, on the other hand, presents a relative simple, cost-effective structure.
In order to attain this purpose, this invention relates to an armrest of the type illustrated at the beginning of this description, characterised in that:
the armrest body pivots on a first axis, which is essentially vertical on an intermediate supporting element and can assume various angular positions around said first axis,
the intermediate supporting element is connected to the armrest supporting column so to move in a direction, which is essentially transverse and horizontal with respect to the longitudinal direction of the armrest, so that the latter can also be positioned in various operative positions with respect to the supporting column, transversely with respect to the longitudinal direction of the armrest.
Thanks to these characteristics, the user sitting in a chair provided with two armrests according to this invention can easily space out or bring nearly the two armrests, according to the users preferences or requirements. At the same time, for each transversal position, the armrest can be oriented on said first essentially vertical axis, in such a way to provide a suitable support to the respective forearm, regardless of the position of the latter on the horizontal plane.
According to an additional characteristic of the armrest according to the invention, positioning devices for defining at least two extreme angular positions of the armrest body, turned in opposite directions around said first vertical axis, in addition to an unturned neutral position, are arranged between the armrest body and the intermediate supporting element.
Furthermore, in the preferred form of embodiment of this invention, said intermediate supporting element is connected to the supporting column by means of an articulated vertical axis parallelogram linkage system, which can pivot between two opposite extreme positions. Preferably, the articulated parallelogram linkage system comprises a pair of arms, articulated both on two vertical axes on the supporting column and on two vertical axes of said intermediate supporting element.
In this description and in the claims that follow, the term xe2x80x9cverticalxe2x80x9d is used with reference to a normal horizontal condition of the armrest. However, the armrest according to this invention can also be used in a chair described in a co-pending patent application by the Applicant, in which the backrest can recline backwards along with the supporting column of each armrest. In the reclined condition, said first axis, on which the armrest body can pivot, is no longer vertical, but remains in any case perpendicular to the general plane of the armrest body.
Always in the case of this preferred form of embodiment, the reference devices of the first angular operative angular position on said first axis comprise an engaging element connected to the intermediate supporting element, which is made to co-operate with an elastic element connected to the armrest body and with several reception housings of the engaging element for defining various operative angular positions of the armrest around said first axis.
According to an additional preferred characteristic of this invention, said supporting column can be adjusted in length, to allow adjusting the height of the armrest body. For this purpose, the supporting column comprises an internal tube destined to be connected to an element belonging to the structure of the chair, and an external tube fitted so to slide around the internal tube and can be blocked in any position between a plurality of various operative positions, by means of fastening devices which can be released manually.